These are all great verses and thoughts you are sharing my friend. I do think there is going to be a physical restoration of Israel and this world as a whole after Christ's return. We have made a mess of this world by rejecting God and trying to do it our way, and I see the millennium as a return to the Garden in a sense. Only this time, Satan and the forces of evil are out of the picture.
Am I cool with transitioning straight to heaven upon Christ's return. Absolutely! But, I think my time in the clouds will be limited to enjoying that marriage supper of the Lamb and then rolling up the sleeves to clean up the mess we've made. I want to be one of those priestly voices encouraging people that “…This is the way, walk in it…” (Isa 30:21) and build a successful human society as God intended under Christ’s leadership.
Check out what else Isaiah has to say:
Isaiah 2:1-4
New King James Version
The Future House of God
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw
concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
3Many people shall come and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning [a]hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.
I don’t think this is going to happen in heaven. I think it’s going to happen right here on this earth, or what’s left of it after our feeble attempts to govern ourselves. What would be the point of beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks in heaven? Are we going to be planting gardens and fields there?
When in human history has this prophecy seen fulfillment? It’s been one war after another, and we are exponentially more destructive now than we have ever been. World War III is already in progress, and none of us want to see the ultimate power we have to destroy ourselves with nuclear weapons happen if we can’t keep our lusts in check.
Don’t get me wrong and think I’m discrediting your views – I think they’re fantastic overall. I’m just showing from scripture that the case for the 1000 year reign of Christ prior to the New Heavens and New Earth is a valid proposition.
It will prove that God was right from the beginning. We as humans can live in harmony with our God, with people from all walks of life, and this beautiful gem of a planet He gave us. We have had ~6000 years, and the record is failure on the whole. 1000 years under Christ and what that will yield will set the historic case straight.
.
“Am I cool with transitioning straight to heaven upon Christ's return. Absolutely! But, I think my time in the clouds will be limited to enjoying that marriage supper of the Lamb and then rolling up the sleeves to clean up the mess we've made. “
not you and me brother
Israel’s saints and the early church
what I was meaning is these ones from the old covenant are in heaven with him reigning already
“and the graves were opened; and
many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”
Matthew 27:52-53 KJV
See he had promised them in thier covenant a resurrection when the messiah came . Just as he’s promised us in the New Testament a resurrection when he comes at the end of our covenant . That’s why they rose it’s the first resurrection of the saints and martyrs of the early church who didn’t cave to Romes persecutions the firstfruits
“For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. But
every man in his own order: Christ , the firstfruits; ( Jesus and the saints and martyrs )
afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.”( us afterwards who believes the gospel tbey preached )
1 Corinthians 15:22-23 KJV
The first resurrection os a promise to Israel’s faithful saints to happen when thier covenant was concluding
He had made this promise to them before jesus came
“Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.”
Ezekiel 37:12 KJV
a then he came and fulfilled it
and the graves were opened; and
many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”
Matthew 27:52-53 KJV
and in the New Testament he’s made a promise to us for when he comes at the end of our covenant
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 KJV
the thousand years is the time between the first resurrection of Israel’s faithful saints fulfilling the ot promise and the last one which will fulfill the nt promise of a resurrection .
it’s not literal time period look at like the kings who rose and have power for one hour with the beast “ that also is. Ot literal timeframe it’s a short period of time represented by an hour . Thousand years represents a very extended time period where the saints are reigning in heavens kingdom
“And I heard a loud voice saying
in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.
Revelation 12:10-12, 17 KJV
They are reigning with him in heavens kingdom and when he returns he’s going to raise all the dead of the new testement by his nt promise of resirrection . Each time Jesus comes to earth there’s a resirrection to fulfill the promise in the covenant . He came once to fulfill the law and prophets will come again to fulfill the gospel
should be looked at through this idea
“But, beloved,
be not ignorant of this one thing,
that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise,
as some men count slackness; but is
longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:8-9 KJV